It is an old saw that firewood heats you twice: when you cut it and when you burn it. Certain difficulties, however, may exist when dividing a log segment into a plurality of wedges so that it can be accepted by a fireplace, woodburning stove or the like. Logs that have knots in them are frequently difficult to split manually, and mechanical advantages gained by hydraulic or electric splitters are expensive. Moreover, these expensive units do not lend themselves to ready portability in the field.
Known prior art devices exist wherein a wedge shaped member is supported on an elongate rod which rod is reciprocally mounted in a sleeve housing dimensioned substantially that of the outer diameter of the rod shaft. The principles of operation for these known prior art techniques rely on the mass of wedge and rod and the acceleration involved in advancing the rod from a retracted position within the associated sleeve to an extended position. In these embodiments, the wedge mean free speed is limited, of course, by the length of travel of the rod within the sleeve, and may be effective only with relatively soft woods, wood that has no knots in it, or rod sleeve lengths that are so long as to be impractical in use.